There's good and bad news for massage therapists in Orange. They have been proclaimed legitimate professional enterprises and will no longer be considered "adult businesses" by city officials. But they will have to prove their professional standards and submit to regulations drafted by those same officials. Council members initially approved the changes in February. But they had to wait weeks as city attorneys worked with masseurs and masseuses over the terms of the standards.

Long troubled by illicit massage parlors, this Orange County city is turning to a novel weapon to drive prostitutes out of town: A multiple-choice quiz. Costa Mesa officials unveiled a plan last week to begin testing massage license applicants on their knowledge of the human body, massage techniques, laws, first aid and ethical conduct. Ideally, trained technicians will pass, and anyone else will fail.

Massage therapists will likely need to pass a written test demonstrating professionalism as part of a city effort to stamp out prostitution in massage parlors. The proposal won preliminary approval from the City Council two weeks ago. Some massage therapists said the test may be too difficult, adding that a three-hour national certification test already weeds out unqualified candidates.

In the hope of weeding out those who use massage therapy as a front for prostitution, practitioners who apply for a license may need to pass a written test. Police were granted preliminary approval Monday from the City Council to develop an exam evaluating applicants' knowledge of health issues and techniques that are covered in certified massage schools that require 500 hours of study and practice. Formal approval may come this month.

Massage therapy soon will cease to be treated as an "adult business" here, but practitioners will have to prove they know their stuff under a new ordinance tentatively approved this week. The City Council, following a regional trend, unanimously endorsed a local law requiring masseurs and masseuses to show they are adequately trained and have passed a national exam.

Massage practitioners hoping to ply their trade in the city will have to abide by new rules adopted this week by the City Council. Under amendments to the city's existing requirements, masseurs and masseuses will need 600 hours of basic education if they lack experience in the field. The requirement increases by 100 the number of hours needed by new practitioners and falls in line with guidelines issued by the American Massage Therapy Assn.

Council members have denied a massage parlor applicant a license because she was cited in Newport Beach for wearing a neckline that was too revealing. Ellen Sue Tiedt was cited March 5 in Newport Beach for wearing clothing the city deemed inappropriate in its guidelines for masseurs and masseuses. Newport Beach requires necklines 3 inches or less from the collarbone. Tiedt, 43, said she was wearing an open lab coat over a 4-inch neckline; she paid a $100 fine.

A licensed massage therapist, who allegedly employed women convicted for acts of prostitution at studios she owned in Newport Beach, lost an appeal Monday to set up shop in Costa Mesa. The City Council upheld a decision by Police Chief David L. Snowden to deny Karol Anna Tran of Westminster a permit, based on convictions of two prostitutes who worked at her business. Tran has no criminal record, but officials said they were reluctant to approve a permit.

A Manhattan Beach massage parlor believed to be operating as a front for prostitution is closing voluntarily to avoid going to court, city officials said Tuesday. John Rhee, the owner of Beach Accupressure, has agreed to the terms outlined in a permanent injunction to be signed this week by Torrance Superior Court Judge Lois Smaltz, said Manhattan Beach City Atty. Robert Wadden. The injunction states that the business, open for less than one year, must close by Sept.

The wooden shack set back on a bleak stretch of highway outside Ft. Campbell sells Chinese food now. But in the days when off-duty soldiers and locals paraded through its back rooms like carny gawkers, the New Life fitness center was a house of secrets. Most people here had heard the whispers about what went on inside, but no one could have imagined where all those secrets would lead.